LET US TELL YOU ABOUT THE PERFECT COCKTAIL.
The most important rule of mixology, the rule that supersedes everything else, is that balance is everything. “All flavors are completely irrelevant if a drink is out of balance,”
Typically, flavors that are going to make a drink either in or out of balance are:
- Acidity
- Sweetness
- Bitterness
- Booze
The core principle we’re always trying to strive for balance of these elements. That can come in three ingredients or it can come in 10, but if a drink isn’t balanced, it’s not going to taste good.
If you don’t enjoy a drink, it’s not the fault of your taste preferences; the flavor profile is probably out sync.
Mixology legend, Jerry Thomas, first taught us the definition of a cocktail—a combination of spirit, sugar, and bitters. Cocktails were created as a method of disguising poorly made spirits, like a horrific blend of gin made in a bathtub during prohibition.
However, the fourth ingredient people don’t often mention is water. By adding ice and shaking, you’re adding an ingredient. When you shake a cocktail, you’re adding over an ounce of water. The same goes for putting drinks on the rocks—more water is added over the course of the time it takes to drink it.
THE MIND OF A MIXOLOGIST.
Mixing a cocktail is the layering flavor and enhancing the core ingredients.
Mixologists approach their product with complexity, but quickly realize that scaling it back to something simple usually tastes better. We’ve seen this retreat to more simple, classic drinks trending in bars. People have gotten all that crazy out of their system. They’ve experienced it and they know a drink’s potential, and now it’s a tool they have; bartenders are more educated by virtue of their experience now that they’ve played with the flavors.
SO REMEMBER THE NEXT TIME YOU WANT A PERFECT COCKTAIL – THERE IS MORE TO IT THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.
